ANTIMYCOBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF CHEMICALLY-DEFINED NATURAL SUBSTANCES FROM THE CARIBBEAN FLORA IN GUADELOUPE

Eight chemically defined: naturally occurring compounds were extracted from the tropical flora of the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe: piloca rpine. an alkaloid from Pilocarpus racemosus; heraclenol and isomeranz in, coumarins from Triphasia trifolia; lochnerin, an indole alkaloid f rom Rauwolfia biauriculata; ibogaine and voacangine, indole alkaloids from Tabernaemontana citrifolia; texalin, an oxazole From Amyris elemi fera; and canellal, a sesquiterpene dialdehyde from Canella winterana. An essential oil fraction from Canella winterana was also tested. The antimycobacterial activity of these substances was tested against Myc obacterium tuberculosis, M. avium and M. kansasii using the Middlebroo k 7H11 agar medium, the Bactec 460-TB radiometric methodology, and det ermination of bacterial viable counts. Three compounds, namely ibogain e voacangine and texalin, showed antimycobacterial activity. Investiga tions on the structure-modification and structure-activity relationshi ps of these compounds map help determine new targets for future drug d evelopment. (C) 1998 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V.